Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query.

Depression is a psychiatric disorder which can be caused due to a combination of factors like a person's genes, certain chemical imbalances in the brain or psychological facors like stressful environment, upsetting events, failures, etc.

You can avoid depression by following these suggstions:

- Avoid stress as much as possible. Stress is an important risk factor for depression. So, don't take too much which you can't handle.
- Practising relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, XXXXXXX breathing, etc. can help relieve stress.
- Ensure that you get 7 - 8 hours of continuous sleep everyday. When you’re sleeping too little or too much, your mood suffers. So, get on a better sleep schedule by learning proper sleep habits.
- Follow a healthy lifestyle - with adequate physical exercise and a nutritious and balanced diet. This not only keeps your body healthy, but also helps your mind.
- Avoid alcohol, smoking or any other substances as they all have been associated with many psychiatric disorders, including depression.
- Avoid negative thinking and guilt feelings. Remember, your thoughts determine your emotions and behaviour. If your thoughts are constantly negative, it can pull you down and worsen your depression.
- Develop a strong social and spiritual support system. Have friends / relatives who you can trust and talk to regularly, keep up with social and religious activities frequently.
- Keep your mind always active and engaged - finding a new hobby, spending time with nature, doing tasks which you enjoy, etc will all help in avoiding depressive thoughts.
- Last, but not the least, seek help early: when you feel low in mood or feeling depressed or having difficulty in managing your stress, please don't hesitate to seek help immediately. Early intervention by means of counselling or sometimes medication can prevent you from going into a major depressive episode.

I hope you will be able to follow hese suggestions and benefit from them.

Wish you all the best.

- Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Consultant Psychiatrist

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